Slashing household solar subsides will kill off industry

The government wants to slash by 87% subsidies for householders who install solar panels on their rooftops, in a move that renewable energy experts warn could kill off a promising industry.

The potential reductions in the level of feed-in tariff (FIT), contained in a long-awaited consultation document released by the Department of Energy & Climate Change (Decc), and are far larger than expected.

The assault on solar power comes after ministerial decisions to remove financial aid from new onshore wind farms and slash home energy efficiency measures. There is even speculation that Decc could be wound up as a standalone department.

From 1 January, ministers are proposing reducing the feed-in tariff for smaller scale solar installations from 12.47p per kilowatt hour to 1.63p with large standalone units eligible for subsidies of 1.03p per kWh, compared with 4.28p today.

The government has blamed concerns that the £7.6bn budget for renewables will be drastically overspent, and argues that solar and onshore wind should be able to largely support themselves.

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The government’s efforts to kill off the solar industry and lead us to fracking hell

Letters: Solar power is citizen power, so – if you do not want a toxic nuclear future or degraded fracked landscapes and lives – keep building those solar roofs, because each single one is footstep to a cleaner, safer, freer energy future

 

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Solar PV Still Cost Effective

A 4kWp system can generate around 3,800 kilowatt hours of electricity a year in the south of England – roughly equivalent to a typical household's electricity needs. It will save nearly two tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. A 4kWp system in Scotland can generate about 3,200 kilowatt hours of electricity a year – more than three quarters of a typical household's electricity needs. It will save more than a tonne and a half of carbon dioxide every year.

Location	System size	Feed-in-Tariff generation payment (£/year)		Feed-in-Tariff export payment (£/year)	Electricity bill savings (£/year)	Carbon dioxide savings (kgCO2/year)
		Valid between 1st April - 30th June 2015	Valid between 1st July - 30th September 2015
London, South England	4kWp	£510	£495	£90	£135	1,870 kg
Aberystwyth, Wales	4kWp	£480	£460	£85	£125	1,750 kg
Manchester, North England	4kWp	£450	£435	£80	£120	1,650 kg
Stirling, Scotland	4kWp	£425	£410	£75	£110	1,560 kg

The average domestic solar PV system is 4kWp and costs £5,000 - 8,000 (including VAT at 5 per cent). 

When Fits (Feed-in Tariff ) were first launched in 2010, a typical large domestic photovoltaic system cost £15,000-£18,000 to install. Early adopters were promised 41.3p per kilowatt hour (kWh) generated for 25 years, plus generous savings on their electricity bills worth up to £160 a year. Incomes and savings of more than £30,000 were promised for a £15,000 investment.

Price falls in PV panels over the past five years mean that the same system can now be installed for £5,000-£6,000 – and the government has responded by cutting the income paid accordingly. Those installing a system before 30 September this year now receive 12.92p per kWh if they live in a home that is energy performance certificate band D or above.

You still need a south facing, unshaded roof, ideally at a 45-degree pitch. Those who live in the south will get the highest income. Someone installing a £6,000 panel system on such a roof in Hertfordshire can expect an income and electricity bill savings of around £600 a year. Payments are index linked and are guaranteed for the next 20 years.

For an accurate calculation of how much your roof will generate use the EnergySavingsTrust calculator.

Apple's HomeKit

The first products to take advantage of Apple’s smart home technology were unveiled today, just days before the start of the company’s Worldwide Developer Conference.

Five device makers announced products that dim the lights or adjust room temperature with a spoken command or control fans and other home appliances from the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Two products are available now, with others reaching stores in the coming weeks.
IHome, a maker of iPhone- and iPod-compatible clock radios and audio accessories, said its first HomeKit product would begin reaching stores in late June. Its SmartPlug allows consumers to use Siri to control their lighting, fans and other home devices.
Lutron Electronics’ Caséta Wireless Lighting Starter Kit provides wireless plugs, remote control dimmer switches and a smart bridge, which allows homeowners to adjust their lights (and, in some cases, the window shades and thermostats) without leaving their couches. Its software will even send a notification if the homeowner has left without turning off the lights. It is available now.

Toronto-based Ecobee announced that its wireless thermostat now works with HomeKit, allowing users to adjust their heating or cooling using Siri on their iPhone or iPad, while Insteon’s HomeKit-compatible hub lets consumers control a range of home gadgets, from door locks and garage door openers to lightbulbs. HomeKit is on sale today online.
HomeKit is a system for connecting smart home devices through iOS.
Apple allows for either WiFi or Bluetooth low energy (LE)-enabled devices to get certified as a HomeKit accessory. Apple is requiring device makers using both WiFi and Bluetooth LE to use complicated encryption with 3072-bit keys, as well as the super secure Curve25519, which is an elliptic curve used for digital signatures and exchanging encrypted keys.
“These security protocols are bleeding edge,” said Diogo Monica, a security lead at Docker and an IEEE security expert.
WiFi-enabled devices can handle these security requirements, but it seems devices running over Bluetooth LE are having some issues. The intensive processing demands for generating and sending these security keys is what’s likely causing these lag times.

Such lag times render many of these devices useless. For example, a smartlock that makes its user wait 40 seconds before it opens is clearly inferior to a traditional lock. One of HomeKit’s selling point is that it provides a more reliable user experience, so these kinds of lag times will need to be sorted out before Apple can become a major platform for the smart home.

People with an August smart lock fitted to their front door can now use an Apple Watch to lock and unlock their home with 'just a swipe and a tap'.
The watch app also tells users who has recently come and gone as well as receiving a notification when someone enters of leaves their house.
The August lock is made of 'durable anodized aluminium' and can be managed using the app which works on a smartphone and Apple Watch, as well as online.
Owners of the lock, created by technology entrepreneur Jason Johnson and industrial designer Yves Behar, can already lock and unlock their door with their iPhone, but the watch will make the process more convenient, because the 'digital key' is already on their wrist.
The battery-operated lock, which launched last year, costs $249 (£160) and its makers claim, takes just 10 minutes to install.
It includes deadbolt adapters and faceplates that work with around 90 per cent of locks on the market in the US.
The encrypted locking technology issues registered devices such as smartphones or the Apple Watch, or invited devices, with unique codes that can't be copied.

Obama's clean energy plan expected to boost renewables

After a year of consultations and over 4 million public comments, President Obama's Clean Power Plan will be finalised early next week.

The strategy will outline restrictions on CO2 from electricity that individual states will have to implement.

The EPA said that emissions from electricity generation need to be reduced by 30% of the 2005 level by 2030.

At that time the EPA said that individual states need to get their plans in place by 2016 and they were to become operational by 2020.

But after consultations with industry, states and 4.3 million comments from the public, the EPA is likely to extend the deadline for the start of carbon cutting until 2022.

The thinking appears to be that a shorter deadline makes it more likely that states will switch from coal to natural gas, as they have been doing in recent years.

It's expected that there will be increased support for solar, wind and other renewable sources

A longer timeframe supports the view that energy efficiency, renewables and emissions trading between states could all play a greater role, and result in bigger carbon savings over time.

Experts believe that the delay will come with some sweeteners to encourage the take-up of renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

International observers are keenly awaiting details of the plan, to see how it might affect UN-sponsored talks on climate change, that are due to agree a new global treaty later this year.

The US has put forward a proposal to cut its overall emissions by 26-28% of their 2005 levels by 2025. The widespread acceptance and implementation of the electricity plan is vital to achieving this target.

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc.